Daimonji Gozan Okuribi Festival

Daimonji Gozan Okuribi Festival is one of the ceremonies of "BON", the time when the souls of ancestors are thought to return to this world. Fires called "OKURIBI" are lit to speed the souls on their way back after their yearly visit. Fires are lit on five hills around Kyoto, in the shape of the Chinese characters DAI, MYO and HO and in the shape of a FUNAGATA and TORII.

This Daimonji Gozan Okuribi Festival is held on August 16 to signal the end of the Buddhist Lent or "Obon", when five huge fires are lit at 8p on five mountains surrounding the city to guide the departing souls of the dead back home to heaven. The festival's full title is Daimonji Gozan Okuribi and the bonfires are in the shape of Chinese characters and other forms like a ship. The most famous fire is on Mount Daimonji and is the character "Dai" or big. The best views taking in all the fires are from the bridges over the Kamo River downtown, or better still from the tops of hotels which often charge a small fee

Background History

The Daimonji Gozan Okuribi Festival is one of rites of bon (The souls of people's ancestors are thought to return to this world at bon, the 15th of August by the modern calendar.), in which fires called okuribi are lit to speed the souls of people's ancestors back on their way after their yearly visit to this world. In the DAIMONJI festival, fires are lit on five hills (GOZAN) around Kyoto, in the shape of the Chinese characters dai ("large"), myo ("miraculous") and ho ("doctrine"), and in the form of a ship(Funagata) and a torii. Various other bon ceremonies are held in Kyoto at this time.